I like to think that folks were tougher back in Pioneer days. I don’t really know if that’s true, but it feels right. Consider the people who built Portland; just to get here, they had to travel by boat or train, hack down a mighty forest, then start all over on the edge of a…

Sometimes a tree is impressive for what it looks like. Other times, for why it’s there, or who put it there. Still other times, for where it is. In the case of Portland Heritage Tree No. 1, all of these things apply. Wonderfully framed in a urban courtyard, a curvy pillar of nature’s beauty in a…

First there was a wilderness, although the people living here wouldn’t have called it that. They called the big river Multnomah, and they would have lived, hunted, and gathered here for many centuries. There would have been many trees here, and what we now call the oak tree would have been particularly valuable to the…

I love asking people if they know about the Portland Heritage Trees. Usually they say no, and then I ask if they have ever seen a really cool tree with a plaque on it. And then they usually say yes. “That’s a Heritage Tree,” I tell them. Or sometimes I’ll just ask them about a…

The idea for my guidebook to the Portland Heritage Trees started one day at Tara Thai, looking up at a magnificent Oregon White Oak. There are so many Thai restaurants in Portland, my buddies and I used to make bets about any place under construction: we each had to choose whether it would be a…

What is a Portland Heritage Tree? Chances are, you aren’t aware of the Portland Heritage Trees — or you are, but you don’t realize it. Think about this: Have you ever seen a really cool tree with a plaque on it, saying what kind of tree it is? That’s a Portland Heritage Tree! There are…